Underwater Architects

Holy Cow! I can barely contain myself! I am in L♡VE! Don't let your eyes fool you, these are not bedazzled cat turds you are looking at (though I quite possibly could be equally as excited by such a find). These mind blowing glitter shells are made by insects. Diamond and gold larvae cocoons- Spectacular! The genius behind these is a french artist named Hubert Duprat who began his work with larvae in the 1980s.

Trichoptera also know as caddisflies are the little devils behind these sparklers. The hermit crabs of bugs, the larvae create elaborate protective tubes from silk, pebbles, sticks, shells and whatever else they can find. They have been referred to as underwater architects.
Duprat brings the caddisflies back to his studio and carefully removes their original tubes. He then places the larvae in tanks with gold flakes, semi-precious and precious stones and the larvae began building their protective sheaths with these new luxurious materials. They have created tubes out of gold flakes, turquoise, coral, sapphires, pearls, rubies and even diamonds! I imagine them to be the kind of pet Cleopatra would keep.

Below are some pictures of their tubes would appear in the wild

This guy's design with the purple hat is not too shabby

Watch the little guys in action as they build my dream house one sparkling karat at a time!